Carey Mulligan has been cast as the lead in One For The Money, a new comedy from Steve Coogan and Sarah Monteith‘s Baby Cow Pictures. Tom Basden (After Life) and Tim Key (Love Wedding Repeat) are also on board in key roles.
The film will chart the story of an eccentric lottery winner named Charles, who lives alone on a remote island but attempts to turn his dreams into reality by hiring his favourite musician, Herb McGwyer, to play an exclusive, private gig.
Unbeknownst to Herb, Charles has also hired Herb’s ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend, Nell, with her new husband in tow, to perform the old favourites. As tempers flare and old tensions resurface, the stormy weather traps them all on the island and Charles desperately looks for a way to salvage his dream gig.
Basden has also written the script, while James Griffiths (Cuban Fury) will direct. The project has its roots in a short film the writers and Griffiths made a decade ago. Back then it was called The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, and won best short at The Edinburgh Film Festival and was also nominated for a BAFTA.
It’s a little surprising it’s taken this long to come back to, as Basden has since written episodes of Peep Show, Fresh Meat, created shows Plebs and Pandemonium, and played Ricky Gervais‘ brother-in-law on After Life.
Basden said in a statement:
“This film is a real labour of love for us that we’ve been hoping to return to for years. The mixture of laugh out loud comedy and emotional resonance that made the short such a hit with audiences over the years (including Carey!) is such a special and rare thing and we’re so excited to reprise the characters we love so much and fulfil the promise of the original short film.”
Mulligan was last seen in true story investigative drama She Said, and has a number of projects in the works including Adam Sandler sci-fi drama Spaceman, Bradley Cooper‘s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, and a reunion with her Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell on black comedy thriller Saltburn.
One For The Money is due to begin shooting this summer.
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